Deciding What to Grow

Show notes from Episode 013 of the Gardening the Hudson Valley Podcast

When my indoor seedlings have perked up enough to be moved out to the cold frame, it means it’s time to think about starting seeds outdoors.

If you are still mulling what to grow in your vegetable garden this year, here’s the criteria I use to winnow down my excessively long list.

❧ First I consider what I really like to eat. I love beans and hot peppers, so a good chunk of my not-so-large garden is set aside for them. Of course I have to have tomatoes, garlic and lots of herbs, but after that I have to make some serious choices.

❧ Next, I choose vegetables that taste uncommonly better fresh. Tomatoes, of course. But also peas, salad greens and herbs. These start losing their sweetness the second they’re harvested and don’t stand a chance in the produce bins.

❧ You might be thinking that corn should be on that list. Well, my next consideration is “What can I get locally that’s as good as home grown?” While I love super fresh sweet corn, I don’t have the room to grow a summer-long supply. Luckily you can get great sweet corn at every farm stand in our area. Problem solved.

The same goes for asparagus. If you don’t want to devote a portion of your garden to this perennial crop, fear not. Our local farmers are harvesting earlier and longer than we would anyway.

❧ Then I think about what costs a fortune to buy. Why would you fork over $2 or $3 for a tiny package of basil when you can get a plant – or 2 – for the same price and have basil in abundance. Face it, that little package is not going to cut it if you want pesto. The same thing goes for arugula, baby beets, and sprouting broccoli.

❧ And finally, don’t forget to give yourself a treat. Grow some vegetables that you won’t find at a grocery store, vegetables that won’t ship or store well or that are not profitable to grow commercially. For me, that’s the thin green beans, or haricot vert, torpedo onions, and tromboncino squash.

Of course, you have to be practical and consider how much space you actually have, how much time you have to tend your garden and what actually grows well there, but summer is so fleeting. Grab as much gratification from your garden as you can.

I’ve lived in the Hudson Valley since I was a young child, except for a brief stint as a city girl, and consider myself a born again local. I was the gardening expert at About.com for over a decade, but my real fascination is with this beautiful valley. Some people gasp at scenery and say how it looks just like a painting. The Hudson Valley inspired an entire school of painters. I believe it is the most beautiful place on earth.

I also teach eCourses, and have a handful of books. I hope you’ll take a look at them. (My books) And I hope you'll stop by often, to hear about gardens to visit, plants to grow, and the occasional mussing on the poetic side of gardening. Thank you for visiting.

Thank You

"Lovers of edibles need to hang onto their socks! Marie Iannotti has given us a guide to growing 100 of the yummiest and most dazzling heirloom vegetables. I dare you to read this and not drool."

—Ivette Soler, author of "The Edible Front Yard"

“The writing here is as crisp as the layout, which uses colored page edges and a simple, slightly-New Englandy sense of style to get its point across. Best of all, it’s hard to think of anything NOT covered here… and yet there’s no sense of the text book in these pages, and only that homey feel one gets while actually gardening.”

—The Woodstock Times

"Half the interest of the garden is the constant exercise of the imagination." – Mrs. C. W. Earle